Credit: X
The Indian women’s team ended their Uber Cup 2024 campaign after Japan blanked them out 0-3 in the quarterfinal clash on May 2, Thursday, in Chengdu, China. On the other hand, the men’s team will rub shoulders with China to secure their Thomas Cup 2024 semifinal slot later in the day. Ashmita Chaliha led India’s fight against China and gave a tough fight to her rival Aya Ohori. However, she failed to give a positive start and lost 10-21, 22-20, 15-21.
In the second match, the doubles pair of Priya Konjengbam and Shruti Mishra slumped to world number 4 pair of Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida 8-21, 9-21. It all ended for India when former world number 1 Nozomi Okuhara defeated Isharani Baruah 21-15, 21-12 to book a semifinal date for her side. The 20-year-old Isharani, currently world ranked 83, was up 14-11 in the first round, but lost to the 2017 World Champions.
After the game, Chaliha said, "The first game could have been better, the court conditions didn't suit me. I played her in Syed Modi but I wasn't good, so today I wanted to give my best. Third set I could have been better after the 11 points, I made silly errors. In the second game, I managed to play on her backhand side. She is a lefty like me, so I got confused initially. With my attacks, I got more points. Overall, I am happy with the way I played. It was a great experience."
Despite the absence of their top guns including PV Sindhu, the in-experienced Indian team made it to the final eight of the tournament. They had registered superior wins over Canada and Singapore in the group stage but were blanked by China 0-5 in the last league game.